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Re: Blackshard Prequel Transcripts (edited)
Eighteenth Session, 25 February (part one, aftermath, an advanced lock)
Eighteenth Session, 25 February (part one, aftermath, an advanced lock)
DM62: WHEN LAST WE LEFT OUR HEROES... Thrae was searching for Braxis in the Temple of the Sun. Jenna and Vel wandered off for a private conversation. Raz'Qui and Arturus were wandering the grounds, stabbing the not-quite-dead members of the Order. And Zyanya and Hel had just finished fighting a hard battle atop the temple with the Order's knights.
Zyanya, a little disheartened oer the recent events was siting at the bottom step of the temple. She'd put down her weapons and was deep in though. Had she really wiped out a religion, even if it was full of corrupt assholes?
Thrae had split from the others as soon as the situation seemed at hand. She wasn't going to leave a member of the party behind, especially when she had resulted in them getting left behind before. She wasn't above using a bit of force to try to get some sort of directions out of the minions around here, and then a bit more to ensure they didn't stab her in the back when she walked by.
DM62: Thrae finds Braxis chained by the neck, wrists, and ankles in a cell. The minotaur is bruised, and appears to have been roughly shaved. He looks up at the drider. "Thrae? That you?" The minotaur grunts. "Bastards were getting ready to kill me. Zyanya can see the smuggler plopping down next to her on the bottom step. "You alright there, darlin?"
Thrae: “Ya, pretty much every one of these guys is dead at this point. So don't have to worry about them coming back for more." Thrae moves to start breaking Braxi's bindings.
Zyanya: “Was..was this all worth it? I mean I know we were dealing with fanatics and crazy loons here, but don't you think we went a bit overboard? I mean, we were only trying to save our friends that were unjustly imprisoned. Not wipe out the entire cult in the process."
DM62: Braxis nods. "Good riddance. Still surprised you guys managed to break through." The smuggler chuckles. "Wipe them out? These people... they're like weeds. Hell, probably more than half of them fled into these canyons and caves. We killed their prophet and the knights and a bunch of idiots, but there are plenty of idiots." Arturus is walking over to Hel, his blade and mace covered in blood. "Hel... I think our work is done here. We've probably made some enemies today, but we've got the Masters on our side... in theory. I just hope it's worth it."
Zyanya: “Well I hope i was worth it...still dosen't feel right to me, all things considered."
DM62: The smuggler shrugs. "Worth it or not, they ambushed us. If you'll recall, they were gonna kill us. All of us. Never feel bad for insisting upon your own survival. Especially when you're attacked by zealots and fools."
Thrae: “Ya, turns out throwing chain lightning and fireballs into packed crowds really thins out the numbers fast." Thrae said, before freezing the chain around Braxis' neck and smashing it with one of her feet. "There, now we should go meet up with the others, watch out though, their might be some stragglers still around that I missed."
Zyanya: “Feh." She waved off his words, trying not to think too hard on it as she went and checked on the others. Specifically, her knight.
DM62: Fiske is walking down the stairs as Zyanya looks around, looking a bit worse for wear. Braxis gives a grunt as the chain freezes and then breaks around his neck. "Well... yeah, I guess it would." The poorly-shaved minotaur gives a bit of a chuckle. The smuggler rises. "Well... guess we'd best go finish negotiations with our latest ally?" He smiles, shakes his head, and wanders off to retrieve Vel and Jenna. He returns with them quickly.
Zyanya: “Fiske, you feeling all right?" She'd approach the young knight and join up with him, doing her best to comfort him. "You feeling ok? Need to sit down?"
Thrae: “Admittedly, I don't actually know where the rest are..." Thrae admitted as they walked. "I can only guess they are up on the surface or something."
Hel gives a shrug and a grunt, cleaning his blade. "Hopefully it was worth it," he grumbles. "Whether it'll help or harm in the long run remains to be seen."
Vel nods. "Get this over with. And you, I wanna talk to you. Later though.," she says, pointing to the smuggler. "Shall we, Jenna?"
DM62: Arturus nods, cleaning his weapons off. "Indeed. But our people are under siege. If nothing else, this is a worthwhile risk to take, especially if it ends with our people free." Jenna smiles, giving Vel's fur one last stroke before walking back toward the group with the chimera. The smuggler just chuckles, ruffling the chimera's fur just a little. "Plenty of time for us to talk. That wasn't exactly a short tunnel." Fiske gives Zyanya a tired smile, pausing to wipe the blood from his axe before strapping it on his back again. "I'm alright. Another battle, and I haven't broken the axe from Sir Malius yet. I'm starting to think maybe it wasn't some old wives' tale about this axe."
Vel: She nods then sighs. "Fine... I want to learn more. For reasons I don;t understand and probably will never know the truth of you seem to be... grooming me to do certain roles. I'm still managing your locks and traps but it;s going well but I need to learn more. I'm sick of being... Of questionable ability during this."
Hel: “Perhaps... if we didn't delay too long for our enemies to recover from the last setback we caused her. Still, was worth a shot..." the dwarf replies, a bit grumpy but still keeping pace.
Zyanya: “Seems so. Good to have a tool you know will never break. I mean look at my spear." She holds up the weapon in question before slinging it over her shoulder. "You just looked very tired is all and I was a little worried." She'd close the distance and gave him a quick hug. "Just let me know if you need anything. We're in this together after all."
DM62: The smuggler folds her arms. "Well... that's a fair request. As for why I'm training you... at first it was because I had to leave the party. But I also enjoy teaching new things. Tell you what. Next lock we come across should be a doozy. A great chance for an advanced lesson." DM62: Arturus shrugs. "We cost the enemy a few thousand troops, and we did it in an area that was supposed to fall rather easily. I doubt she's recovered those losses just yet... but she might be making another move as we speak. So best we hurry." Fiske blushes but returns the hug for a bit, then gruffly clears his throat as he notices the rest of the party. No one seems ready to interfere with the party's movement, although the party can tell that there are some remaining cultists watching from the distant surroundings, no doubt waiting to emerge until the dangerous group had left.
Vel: “I was hoping for more than lock work but I'll take what I can get.," says Vel wryly, "Good thing I like learning, even if I was never really allowed to." She shrugs and moves along, watching around and frowning. Much to do still. Time to see how these... Masters played out. She wasn;t so sure they;d be quite willing if they were as... Politically maneuvering and chess types as they were protrayed to be. She trusted Jenna to try her best though.
Hel moves along with the others, glaring into the dark to ensure anyone else wasn't going to take the mick at them and delay them farther.
Zyanya: “Agreed. Guess we need to see these people before they lose interest. Something tells me a group like this would be quite fickle with their interests."
DM62: After a few hour's walk, the party enters the clean, dark tunnel. It's deathly quiet as the party moves along. Arturus is frowning. "Damned tunnels... wish we could find more allies above ground." He shakes his head, then looks at Vel and Thrae. "No offense." A few more hours of walking, and the party is not too far from the hidden entrance to the tunnel from the sewers. Jenna stops the party, and Vel's ability to see in the dark pays off--she sees a single finger bone sitting in the middle of the tunnel.
Vel: “No, that;s fine Arcturus. We do need more bodies who are willing to fight orcs like orcs long enough for the poisons to work into their systems.," smirks Vel. She paused when Jenna did later, tilting her head. "A bone? Is it a trap, Jenna?"
DM62: Jenna shakes her head. "It's a sign. There's another hidden door here. We need to find it."
Vel salutes and starts snuffling the ground, smelling for signs of passage. After all, dead people tended to have a distinct odor of one kind or another.
DM62: There does seem to be a decayed scent trail. It somehow smells... cleaner than the usual undead, as though care had been taken in its preservation. Still dead... and the trail seems to lead straight into the wall of the tunnel.
Zyanya: “Any luck Vel? Can't really see all that well and I never was good at finding hidden things"
Vel: “Right here. Checking if it;s trapped.," says Vel, "Smells like formaldehyde. Clearly they care about appearences." She began searching the wall, "Here's hoping I learned my lessons good heh..."
DM62: "A moment, Vel. I've got something in my left hand that should help you." Vel can hear the smuggler's smile in the darkness, and sees him holding something long and thin... a straw. "Likely have to carefully clear dust around the outline... and in the lock. This... is likely to be an advanced lock. Probably trapped. If you need help... let me know."
Vel nods, taking it with a curious look, "So I jsut brush with this then?"
DM62: "Or you put your lips on one end, and gently blow away the dust. Just be careful not to inhale. The dust might just be laced with poison, depending on how paranoid our hosts are. And... it might be a good idea for everyone else to back away while you work." Fiske gently takes Zyanya by the arm, pulling both of them away from the chimera.
Vel: “Heh...," smirks Vel wryly, "They really should make spells for this sorta thing..." She nods and starts to gently blow the dust away best she could, scaling up the wall if needed, though careful not to touch the door itself. You never knew after all... Once that was done she began inspecting the lock carefully.
DM62: It's an odd shape for a lock... looking much like "Y" but also perhaps a little deep for a lock. The smuggler speaks softly. "Can you describe the lock for me, Vel?"
Vel: “...It;s y shaped. And deep. I think I saw locks like this before, the matron;s chambers. You needed a special key so you couldn;t just pick it. Not without having extra arms anyways... What do you think?"
DM62: "Tricky... there are picks that can turn it in the set I gave you... but the question is where the shaft is located for rotation. It could be anywhere along that shape... and turning it in the wrong direction could set off a trap. Look to see if you can tell how the inside of the lock is worn... where the wear begins, pressure from the key is felt. At the end of that wear is the location for the shaft of the key."
Vel: She nods and peers closely, trying to get a good look.
DM62: Sure enough, the wear suggests that the lock is normally turned counter-clockwise, and the shaft is located halfway up the upper-right branch of the lock.
Zyanya: A little surprised that this much fuss was being made over a lock, Zyanya would step back with Fiske, wondering what the big deal was. Maybe it was a good thing she never was the sneaky type as it may have driven her mad with paranoia.
DM62: "Please wait." A voice speaks from above the party.
Vel: She nods with a frown, trying to position the picks in as she had practiced, taking it slow and carefully. Suddenly she stopped and looked up. "Uh...."
Zyanya, a little disheartened oer the recent events was siting at the bottom step of the temple. She'd put down her weapons and was deep in though. Had she really wiped out a religion, even if it was full of corrupt assholes?
Thrae had split from the others as soon as the situation seemed at hand. She wasn't going to leave a member of the party behind, especially when she had resulted in them getting left behind before. She wasn't above using a bit of force to try to get some sort of directions out of the minions around here, and then a bit more to ensure they didn't stab her in the back when she walked by.
DM62: Thrae finds Braxis chained by the neck, wrists, and ankles in a cell. The minotaur is bruised, and appears to have been roughly shaved. He looks up at the drider. "Thrae? That you?" The minotaur grunts. "Bastards were getting ready to kill me. Zyanya can see the smuggler plopping down next to her on the bottom step. "You alright there, darlin?"
Thrae: “Ya, pretty much every one of these guys is dead at this point. So don't have to worry about them coming back for more." Thrae moves to start breaking Braxi's bindings.
Zyanya: “Was..was this all worth it? I mean I know we were dealing with fanatics and crazy loons here, but don't you think we went a bit overboard? I mean, we were only trying to save our friends that were unjustly imprisoned. Not wipe out the entire cult in the process."
DM62: Braxis nods. "Good riddance. Still surprised you guys managed to break through." The smuggler chuckles. "Wipe them out? These people... they're like weeds. Hell, probably more than half of them fled into these canyons and caves. We killed their prophet and the knights and a bunch of idiots, but there are plenty of idiots." Arturus is walking over to Hel, his blade and mace covered in blood. "Hel... I think our work is done here. We've probably made some enemies today, but we've got the Masters on our side... in theory. I just hope it's worth it."
Zyanya: “Well I hope i was worth it...still dosen't feel right to me, all things considered."
DM62: The smuggler shrugs. "Worth it or not, they ambushed us. If you'll recall, they were gonna kill us. All of us. Never feel bad for insisting upon your own survival. Especially when you're attacked by zealots and fools."
Thrae: “Ya, turns out throwing chain lightning and fireballs into packed crowds really thins out the numbers fast." Thrae said, before freezing the chain around Braxis' neck and smashing it with one of her feet. "There, now we should go meet up with the others, watch out though, their might be some stragglers still around that I missed."
Zyanya: “Feh." She waved off his words, trying not to think too hard on it as she went and checked on the others. Specifically, her knight.
DM62: Fiske is walking down the stairs as Zyanya looks around, looking a bit worse for wear. Braxis gives a grunt as the chain freezes and then breaks around his neck. "Well... yeah, I guess it would." The poorly-shaved minotaur gives a bit of a chuckle. The smuggler rises. "Well... guess we'd best go finish negotiations with our latest ally?" He smiles, shakes his head, and wanders off to retrieve Vel and Jenna. He returns with them quickly.
Zyanya: “Fiske, you feeling all right?" She'd approach the young knight and join up with him, doing her best to comfort him. "You feeling ok? Need to sit down?"
Thrae: “Admittedly, I don't actually know where the rest are..." Thrae admitted as they walked. "I can only guess they are up on the surface or something."
Hel gives a shrug and a grunt, cleaning his blade. "Hopefully it was worth it," he grumbles. "Whether it'll help or harm in the long run remains to be seen."
Vel nods. "Get this over with. And you, I wanna talk to you. Later though.," she says, pointing to the smuggler. "Shall we, Jenna?"
DM62: Arturus nods, cleaning his weapons off. "Indeed. But our people are under siege. If nothing else, this is a worthwhile risk to take, especially if it ends with our people free." Jenna smiles, giving Vel's fur one last stroke before walking back toward the group with the chimera. The smuggler just chuckles, ruffling the chimera's fur just a little. "Plenty of time for us to talk. That wasn't exactly a short tunnel." Fiske gives Zyanya a tired smile, pausing to wipe the blood from his axe before strapping it on his back again. "I'm alright. Another battle, and I haven't broken the axe from Sir Malius yet. I'm starting to think maybe it wasn't some old wives' tale about this axe."
Vel: She nods then sighs. "Fine... I want to learn more. For reasons I don;t understand and probably will never know the truth of you seem to be... grooming me to do certain roles. I'm still managing your locks and traps but it;s going well but I need to learn more. I'm sick of being... Of questionable ability during this."
Hel: “Perhaps... if we didn't delay too long for our enemies to recover from the last setback we caused her. Still, was worth a shot..." the dwarf replies, a bit grumpy but still keeping pace.
Zyanya: “Seems so. Good to have a tool you know will never break. I mean look at my spear." She holds up the weapon in question before slinging it over her shoulder. "You just looked very tired is all and I was a little worried." She'd close the distance and gave him a quick hug. "Just let me know if you need anything. We're in this together after all."
DM62: The smuggler folds her arms. "Well... that's a fair request. As for why I'm training you... at first it was because I had to leave the party. But I also enjoy teaching new things. Tell you what. Next lock we come across should be a doozy. A great chance for an advanced lesson." DM62: Arturus shrugs. "We cost the enemy a few thousand troops, and we did it in an area that was supposed to fall rather easily. I doubt she's recovered those losses just yet... but she might be making another move as we speak. So best we hurry." Fiske blushes but returns the hug for a bit, then gruffly clears his throat as he notices the rest of the party. No one seems ready to interfere with the party's movement, although the party can tell that there are some remaining cultists watching from the distant surroundings, no doubt waiting to emerge until the dangerous group had left.
Vel: “I was hoping for more than lock work but I'll take what I can get.," says Vel wryly, "Good thing I like learning, even if I was never really allowed to." She shrugs and moves along, watching around and frowning. Much to do still. Time to see how these... Masters played out. She wasn;t so sure they;d be quite willing if they were as... Politically maneuvering and chess types as they were protrayed to be. She trusted Jenna to try her best though.
Hel moves along with the others, glaring into the dark to ensure anyone else wasn't going to take the mick at them and delay them farther.
Zyanya: “Agreed. Guess we need to see these people before they lose interest. Something tells me a group like this would be quite fickle with their interests."
DM62: After a few hour's walk, the party enters the clean, dark tunnel. It's deathly quiet as the party moves along. Arturus is frowning. "Damned tunnels... wish we could find more allies above ground." He shakes his head, then looks at Vel and Thrae. "No offense." A few more hours of walking, and the party is not too far from the hidden entrance to the tunnel from the sewers. Jenna stops the party, and Vel's ability to see in the dark pays off--she sees a single finger bone sitting in the middle of the tunnel.
Vel: “No, that;s fine Arcturus. We do need more bodies who are willing to fight orcs like orcs long enough for the poisons to work into their systems.," smirks Vel. She paused when Jenna did later, tilting her head. "A bone? Is it a trap, Jenna?"
DM62: Jenna shakes her head. "It's a sign. There's another hidden door here. We need to find it."
Vel salutes and starts snuffling the ground, smelling for signs of passage. After all, dead people tended to have a distinct odor of one kind or another.
DM62: There does seem to be a decayed scent trail. It somehow smells... cleaner than the usual undead, as though care had been taken in its preservation. Still dead... and the trail seems to lead straight into the wall of the tunnel.
Zyanya: “Any luck Vel? Can't really see all that well and I never was good at finding hidden things"
Vel: “Right here. Checking if it;s trapped.," says Vel, "Smells like formaldehyde. Clearly they care about appearences." She began searching the wall, "Here's hoping I learned my lessons good heh..."
DM62: "A moment, Vel. I've got something in my left hand that should help you." Vel can hear the smuggler's smile in the darkness, and sees him holding something long and thin... a straw. "Likely have to carefully clear dust around the outline... and in the lock. This... is likely to be an advanced lock. Probably trapped. If you need help... let me know."
Vel nods, taking it with a curious look, "So I jsut brush with this then?"
DM62: "Or you put your lips on one end, and gently blow away the dust. Just be careful not to inhale. The dust might just be laced with poison, depending on how paranoid our hosts are. And... it might be a good idea for everyone else to back away while you work." Fiske gently takes Zyanya by the arm, pulling both of them away from the chimera.
Vel: “Heh...," smirks Vel wryly, "They really should make spells for this sorta thing..." She nods and starts to gently blow the dust away best she could, scaling up the wall if needed, though careful not to touch the door itself. You never knew after all... Once that was done she began inspecting the lock carefully.
DM62: It's an odd shape for a lock... looking much like "Y" but also perhaps a little deep for a lock. The smuggler speaks softly. "Can you describe the lock for me, Vel?"
Vel: “...It;s y shaped. And deep. I think I saw locks like this before, the matron;s chambers. You needed a special key so you couldn;t just pick it. Not without having extra arms anyways... What do you think?"
DM62: "Tricky... there are picks that can turn it in the set I gave you... but the question is where the shaft is located for rotation. It could be anywhere along that shape... and turning it in the wrong direction could set off a trap. Look to see if you can tell how the inside of the lock is worn... where the wear begins, pressure from the key is felt. At the end of that wear is the location for the shaft of the key."
Vel: She nods and peers closely, trying to get a good look.
DM62: Sure enough, the wear suggests that the lock is normally turned counter-clockwise, and the shaft is located halfway up the upper-right branch of the lock.
Zyanya: A little surprised that this much fuss was being made over a lock, Zyanya would step back with Fiske, wondering what the big deal was. Maybe it was a good thing she never was the sneaky type as it may have driven her mad with paranoia.
DM62: "Please wait." A voice speaks from above the party.
Vel: She nods with a frown, trying to position the picks in as she had practiced, taking it slow and carefully. Suddenly she stopped and looked up. "Uh...."